MARCH 25TH UPDATE
As a community, we must be committed that acts of hate, racism, and intolerance against Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) will not be tolerated. Through community unity, we must join together and ensure that the unspeakable act by a single individual, yet unknown, will never happen again. Uniting together, as a community of fellow Shareholders, neighbors, and friends, we can show the world we can live as one.
Your support is needed to help identify and lead to a conviction in this matter. We have established an anonymous (optional) tip line (reporthate@lwsb.com). The Golden Rain Foundation is developing a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this act of hate and racism against one of your fellow Shareholders.
There exists a wake of violence against the AAPI community across the nation. In a recent report, the group STOP AAPI Hate cites over 3,700 anti-Asian hate incidents and, sadly, we have become part of this statistic.
Falsehoods, racism, and threats against the AAPI community, as well as all other individuals of varied beliefs and descents, MUST STOP.
My very sincere thank you for all of the emails, calls, and notes of your concern on this important matter, and for the family that was threatened. As you are aware, GRF and the Seal Beach Police Department (SBPD) are investigating this incident and have given it the highest priority.
As this is considered an Anti-Asian hate crime, actions are not only being taken by GRF and the Seal Beach Police Department. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and Federal Investigators from the United States Postal Inspector’s Office are also involved to ensure all leads are being investigated. Seal Beach Detective Jon Ainley is the lead detective; he can be contacted at (562) 799-4100 ext. 1113 or via email at jainley@sealbeachca.gov.
I’m also very pleased to announce that I have spoken to Congresswoman Steel. She and Congresswoman Porter are supporting a bipartisan resolution to condemn hate crimes committed against Asian-American and Pacific Islanders. Both are extremely concerned about this incident. The excerpt below demonstrates the support of our representatives regarding this matter, from a February 23, 2021 press release:
Discrimination is against the fundamental values of the American culture,” said Representative Steel.
“Every Orange County family should be able to live free from discrimination and hate,“said Representative Porter.
Lastly, I can assure you that I, nor GRF,tolerate hate of any kind. All due actions are well underway. I simply ask each of you – stand up for all your neighbors and stand up against hate.
The lyrics to “Imagine” are truly fitting.
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one.
– John Lennon
MARCH 23RD UPDATE
On March 22, a member of our community and your fellow shareholder received an anonymous letter of hate and discrimination. This crime is under full investigation.
Our community is committed to realizing our community’s vision of unity and the founding premise of neighbor helping neighbor. Our core purpose is to provide a welcoming, safe, and inclusive community where every resident experiences a true sense of belonging. Accordingly, the Golden Rain Foundation states emphatically that acts of hate speech/bias crime will not be tolerated.
This malicious and egregious act of hate speech threatens our core values of racial equity and social justice.
This hateful bias crime, by an anonymous individual believed to be a resident of Leisure World, is under full investigation. Additionally, we are reaching out to our community members to restate that we condemn in the strongest possible terms such action and that all actions will be taken to locate and prosecute the individual.
As incidents of hate/bias escalate across the country, we will continue to work in tandem with our community leadership in addressing anonymous incidents. Our goal is to support all of our community members and to strengthen our proactive engagement in addressing the roots of intolerance and discrimination.
